Twin Passions: 3 Read Online Free PDF

age. “I arrived from that direction and saw the Unicorn foals at play. The way is shorter.”
    “You knew my direction how?” She frowned at him as she vaulted into the saddle.
    A chuckle rasped from his throat. “You told this fair beast.” He patted the stallion’s neck as it pawed the ground impatiently. “It was he who told me.”
    The new caretaker’s accord with the Unicorns had been the only reason the Guardian of the Lands and Princess Serena had allowed him the privilege of caring for the Unicorns that rested within the cavern stables.
    The Unicorns seemed to cherish him. Often nuzzling at him for affection, despite the fact he rarely brought them treats. They simply enjoyed his touch.
    Giving a sharp nod, she leaned over the stallion’s neck and without command, Tripelli rose to his back legs, pawed the air then came down with a jump that had him shooting from the cavern and making the sharp turn that led to the narrow eastern passage to the Emerald Valley.
    Rains often swelled the stream that ran through the passage to dangerous levels, making it hazardous for the Unicorns to cross at the two points where no other path could be taken. If it were clear, then it would remain so until the next hard rains, and would cut the journey to the Emerald Valley by more than half the distance.
    Tripelli charged through the Royal Forest, heading for the eastern entrance to Emerald Valley. Powerful legs and a wide chest ensured his endurance, and with the wind playing haphazardly through his mane and Astra’s curls, it was as close as the Sorceresses came to flying until the Griffons had been found.
    The eastern passage was wide, filled with lush green grass and sheltering trees. As the caretaker said, the Unicorn mares and their foals frolicked in the small vale and splashed about the stream that wound through it.
    The closer she came to the Emerald Valley, the more painful the thought of returning there became.
    The spell that had turned the Griffons to stone had been reversed, but for two. The infant male, Tambor, and the half-grown male, Candalar, who had been broken cruelly while in stone form.
    Their healers had no idea how to repair the damage, or if repair were even possible. Arrangements would be made to bring them to the castle. Until then, they had been left as they lay, Marina’s fears that even the smallest shard of stone could be lost in the transfer making the decision for her.
    Yet, surprisingly she could now sense both males, where before she had not, as she neared the area where they had been left.
    Weak. The magick that flowed through them was barely existent, though it had been nonexistent before.
    Where once she had felt nothing when she searched for their location, she now felt their warmth, Tambor’s confusion, though not his fear. Candalar was irritated, though neither appeared in distress.
    Or if they were, they were unaware of it.
    But they wanted her with them now.
    She had played with them for many years, soothed their minor wounds caused by play, and often teased them for their clumsiness.
    She was one of their favored caretakers, and the closer she came to the area where they had been left broken and discarded, the louder their summons seemed to grow.
    Her ears were ringing with the roars they now sent along the telepathic pathways. Her head was buzzing with their demands that she come to them.
    Urging Tripelli to greater speed, she held tight to the heavy mane, her gaze narrowed against the wind and her own thoughts.
    How could they be calling out to her? How much more heartache could she bear than to hold the cold stone to her breast and know she could not return them from the cold stone forms they had been turned into? There could be no evil greater than that which the Justice Layel had practiced upon the innocent Griffon babes. And no horror Astra imagined could be greater to the cubs.
    May the Sentinel Select protect any other being with the slightest thought to harm more of those